Embattled musician and producer Sean “Diddy” Combs has been arrested, the mogul’s attorney says.
According to a source, Combs was arrested in a Manhattan hotel on Monday night and is currently being processed. The charges are unclear at this time.
“We are disappointed with the decision to pursue what we believe is an unjust prosecution of Mr Combs by the US Attorney’s Office,” Marc Agnifilo, an attorney for Combs, told CNN.
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Combs’ attorney said that the musician has been cooperating with the investigation, and relocated to New York last week in anticipation of being charged.
His team maintains his innocence, and says he has “nothing to hide”.
“Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is a music icon, self-made entrepreneur, loving family man, and proven philanthropist who has spent the last 30 years building an empire, adoring his children, and working to uplift the Black community. He is an imperfect person but is not criminal,” Agnifilo told CNN.
“To his credit, Mr Combs has been nothing but cooperative with this investigation and he voluntarily relocated to New York last week in anticipation of these charges.
“Please reserve your judgment until you have all the facts.
“These are the acts of an innocent man with nothing to hide, and he looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
Earlier this year, Combs became the target of a months-long sex trafficking probe by the Homeland Security Investigations agency, which included dramatic searches of the musician’s Los Angeles and Miami homes in March.
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Since last November, Combs has been hit with ten lawsuits, nine directly accusing him of sexual assault.
Several of those accusers had met with federal investigators for questioning as part of the wide-ranging probe.
CNN reported in May that federal investigators were preparing to bring accusers of Combs before a federal grand jury for testimony – a significant escalation in the government’s investigation that signaled the Justice Department was moving toward potentially seeking an indictment of the rapper and businessman.
Combs previously and repeatedly denied all wrongdoing alleged in the various lawsuits.
However, he issued a public apology after CNN released surveillance footage earlier this year that showed Combs brutally assaulting his former girlfriend, Cassandra “Cassie” Ventura, in a Los Angeles hotel in March 2016.
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